Good Morning Friends across the wild world of Locals! Merry Christmas one final time Phamily, Refugees, Triggeratti, Early Birds, Dawn Patrol, Fascinating People, Beautiful Bigots, Conversants, Lurkers and all of our Digital Neighbors!🎄🎅🎄
As the season ends in Cath-O-land, it is in invitation to look back on these 15 days. It seems rather opposite of the experience of cultural Christmas when we start anticipating and pre-celebrating the holiday in October. By the time it arrives, ours minds are often tired of the season or at least disappointed that the experience of the day does not match its hype. Not only that, but we know that Christmas is often freighted with too much emotional drama and too much temptation for the great unspokens in family history or other relationships to be mentioned. Things better left to therapy often get two glasses of wine and a "by the way . . . " Hilarity ensues. Or not. The walking on eggshells often gives way to the breaking down of walls but not the healing of wounds or real clearing of the air.
It doesn't always have to be that experience, if you have had something like that for many Christmases, but change is difficult and if you change you may find yourself even more of a pariah in family circles. Alternatively, one other family member might share your reassessment and join your on the path to recovery. Better to be alone or with a few healthier individuals than to participate in systems of unaddressed turmoil. Crappy relationships are not better than being alone, finding healthy relationships is always a possibility. It might be a support group, people joined by a common hobby or whatever, but finding people of trust, vulnerability and friendship is possible no matter how marginalized you may think you are. Some suggestions for Christmas 2022. Merry Christmas my friends.
CHRISTMAS GIFT SUGGESTIONS
To your enemy, forgiveness
To an opponent, tolerance
To a friend, your heart
To a customer, service
To all, charity
To every child, a good example
To yourself, respect
— Oren Arnold
Winter Barn - Zimmerman road in Traverse City Michigan.
Today marks the three hundred and thirtieth birthday of the Frenchman François-Marie Arouet, better known by his nom de plume, Voltaire (1694-1778).
Born into a bourgeois family during the reign of Louis XIV, the “Sun King” (r. 1643-1715), Voltaire suffered tragedy at a young age when his mother died. Never close with his father or brother, Voltaire exhibited a rebellious attitude toward authority from his youth. His brilliant mind was fostered in the care of the Society of Jesus, who introduced him to the joys of literature and theater. Despite his later criticisms against the Church, Voltaire, throughout his life, fondly recalled his dedicated Jesuit teachers.
Although he spent time as a civil servant in the French embassy to the Hague, Voltaire’s main love was writing—an endeavor where he excelled in various genres, including poetry, which led to his appointment as the royal court poet for King Louis XV. Widely recognized as one of the greatest French writers, and even hyperbolically referred to by ...
Padre - Tom Miller invites you to a Coffee Talk, Speakeasies, Schmoozes, Tea Times, Afterhours and other gatherings.
https://teams.live.com/meet/93792382189049?p=DiBHsYfuECPgDrG7vO
2026 Coffee Talk with the ADD Irregulars
Thursday, January 1, 2026
6:00 AM - 8:00 AM (CST)
Occurs every day starting 1/1 until 12/31/2027
Coffee Talk - Daily beginning at 6:00 AM Central Time Zone - USA
White Pilled Wednesday - A break from the heaviness of news and current events to focus upon things more personal & positive for the first hour of Coffee Talk.
Afternoon Chats - Most Tuesday, Friday & Sundays 2:00 PM Central
Other chats as posted in the community.
Good Morning, Digital Neighbors, and Blessed Sunday to one and all!
Sundays are for gratitude, and few things impact our lives more than intentional gratitude. It is not enough to say you are blessed or that you are fortunate; the actual naming of our blessings plants them deep in the heart, transforming us as persons rather than leaving us with the bland “thankful for everything.”
Two years ago, I wrote this reflection on resentment and gratitude. In light of the celebration of our nation’s 250th anniversary, I think it’s worth revisiting. We can choose to be among those who are thankful for America or among those who find nothing but fault with it.
You cannot build a future based on resentments of the past. You cannot grow if you are mired in the injuries of yesterday. God and life do not call us to ignore such experiences, but He constantly calls us forward—to be more, to receive more, to live more. Heal those wounds and work through those injuries, but do not be defined by them, and do not try to ...
